The Role of Historical Knowledge in Perception of Race-Based Conspiracies

We test the hypothesis that knowledge of historically documented, anti-black conspiracies affects perceived plausibility of new, anti-black conspiracies. In Experiment 1 (N = 78), African Americans and European Americans read about a current conspiracy aimed at undermining either African American or European American–elected officials. African Americans perceived the anti-black conspiracy as more plausible and the conspiracy informant as more credible than did European Americans. The difference in perception of informant credibility was mediated by recognition of historically documented, anti-black conspiracies. In Experiment 2, we manipulated European Americans’ (N = 105) exposure to information about historically documented, anti-black conspiracies. European Americans who learned about actual, past anti-black conspiracies perceived new anti-black conspiracies as more plausible than did European Americans who learned about race-silent conspiracies or who did not learn about conspiracies. To the extent that European Americans lack awareness of incidents of racism in US history, they are likely to underestimate the possibility that racism impacts contemporary events.     

Intersectionality and Engagement among the LGBTQ+ Community

ABSTRACT

As the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community makes progress toward attaining equal rights, a growing body of scholarly attention is focusing on this increasingly visible minority group. Yet studies of attitudes among LGBTQ+ Americans themselves remain limited because of small sample sizes and scarce data. As a result, scholarly work on LGBTQ+ issues is almost entirely devoted to measuring straight America’s opinions. In this study we administer both a survey and an experiment to a sample of LGBTQ+ Americans. Our findings are twofold. First, we demonstrate that intersectionality has important effects on attitudes within the LGBTQ+ community. Specifically, LGBTQ+ respondents who are at the intersection of multiple minority groups display lower levels of political engagement. Second, we test the mobilizing influence of out-group versus in-group cues on LGBTQ+ Americans. In line with previous work, we find that government action to support a threatening out-group engages LGBTQ+ Americans to support in-group candidates, whereas government action to support their own in-group has a significantly smaller effect. These findings help us to understand an increasingly politically active subset of the electorate and, more broadly, shed light on the influence of intersectionality on political attitudes.     

Attenuation of treatment effect due to measurement variability in assessment of progression-free survival

For normally distributed data analyzed with linear models, it is well known that measurement error on an independent variable leads to attenuation of the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. However, for time‐to‐event variables such as progression‐free survival (PFS), the effect of the measurement variability in the underlying measurements defining the event is less well understood. We conducted a simulation study to evaluate the impact of measurement variability in tumor assessment on the treatment effect hazard ratio for PFS and on the median PFS time, for different tumor assessment frequencies. Our results show that scan measurement variability can cause attenuation of the treatment effect (i.e. the hazard ratio is closer to one) and that the extent of attenuation may be increased with more frequent scan assessments. This attenuation leads to inflation of the type II error. Therefore, scan measurement variability should be minimized as far as possible in order to reveal a treatment effect that is closest to the truth. In disease settings where the measurement variability is shown to be large, consideration may be given to inflating the sample size of the study to maintain statistical power. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Auf den Rangplatz kommt es an – Wirkung der Rangfolge von Produkten auf das Entscheidungsverhalten

Customers often search for and choose from ordered sets. E. g., online shops present their product assortments as lists; very often the products are listed according to criteria as defined by the customers. Based on theoretical explanations it can be assumed that the rank of a product in a list effects its demand. An empirical study run in the market for used cars shows the importance of that effect. The study also reveals the most preferred rank and provides further insights for an optimal ordering of products. Furthermore, the understanding of individual decision about rank ordered products can be deepened.     

Social protection assessment‐based national dialogue exercises: Cambodia,Indonesia, Thailand,Viet Nam

Between 2011 and 2013, the International Labour Organization, in collaboration with governments and several United Nations agencies working as part of the Social Protection Floor Initiative, conducted social protection assessment‐based national dialogue (ABND) exercises in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Viet Nam. The exercises were carried out in order to take stock of existing social protection realities in the respective countries, including social insurance, social assistance and anti‐poverty programmes. These inventories present a comprehensive picture of what elements of national social protection floors (SPFs) are in place, where “holes” in national floors exist, and provide a framework within which to propose recommendations for the further design and implementation of social protection provisions that guarantee at least the SPF to the entire population. This article describes the methodology for conducting ABND exercises, the situational analysis of the SPF in four countries, and the policy recommendations that were formulated for achieving basic health care and income security for children, the working‐age population and the elderly. The results of preliminary calculations of the cost of implementing proposed policy options are also outlined.     

Estimating sexual behavior parameters from routine sexual behavior data

In mathematical models for predicting the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), the rate of acquisition of new sex partners and concurrency, the number of simultaneous sexual partnerships, are important parameters. Yet, information on these parameters is rarely obtained in routine sexual behavior surveys; instead, questions about the total number of sex partners during specific periods are often asked. We present two methods that estimate the rate of partnership acquisition and concurrency from reported numbers of sex partners in two overlapping periods. The first method assumes homogeneous behavior, while the second method also takes account of heterogeneity in sexual behavior. Both methods assume random (Poisson) partnership acquisition and the possibility of overlap in relationships. For both methods it might be relevant to distinguish individuals who are in a stable relationship from those who are not.     

Social work practitioners' experience of the clinical utility of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory

Clinical utility of an assessment instrument can provide important information about the potential value of that instrument when used in practice. The aim of this study was to describe social work practitioners' experiences of the clinical utility of a Swedish version of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory. Because knowledge of clinical utility in this area is scarce, a qualitative method based on semi‐structured interviews was used to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Data were collected through 16 interviews and then analysed by qualitative manifest content analysis. The analysis yielded five categories: improves quality of child protection investigations, supports practitioners, HOME has drawbacks and difficulties, certain issues are important for future applications and basic conditions are crucial. The findings supported the clinical utility of the HOME Inventory though some critical issues have to be addressed, especially concerning the category basic conditions are crucial. A thorough education, the possibility to practice activities related to the administration of the method and support from management were found to be essential. Replication and further studies are needed in the Swedish context to confirm the applicability of the HOME Inventory.     

Implizite und explizite Botschaften in Karriereratgebern f��r Frauen

Many women, especially those with a higher level of education, are eager to prove themselves at work. Nowadays, more and more people turn to anonymous authorities, like therapists and professional coaches, to seek advice and help. Regarding this situation the article examines present career-advice books for women. A reconstructive approach allows to show implicit assumptions and hidden constructions of labour and gender. It unveils the inconsistencies behind the suggested advice given. Furthermore it can be shown how the presented instructions can lead to constant self-improvement and increased self-exploitation.